Dark Embrace: OUAT Underworld Saga: Book II
by CJ Moliere
Summary: A Once Upon a Time Twist on the Underworld Saga. In Part II Belle, Rumple, Emma and Bae travel to Europe to stop the vicious hybrid Malcolm from releasing his primitive lycan brother Albert while Archibald, the remaining brother is trying to keep their clans a secret from the true threat...the human race! Rumbelle, Swanfire, RedCricket pairings


Budapest, Hungary

Centuries earlier

It had been long ago, too long ago it seemed, to the hibernating vampire elder Malcolm that he and his brother Albert were just young boys with nothing else to do all day but play in the forest and play they did, mostly hide and seek games. Albert was always better at it, he was always better at everything and Malcolm couldn't help feeling a bit jealous. Although they were twins, Albert was treated as the elder because he was the first born, only by ten minutes and those ten minutes felt like years to Malcolm.

When they weren't roaming through the forest, they were left in the care of various servants but when the servants weren't looking, the boys would sneak off, disappearing for hours, even a day at times, incurring their father's wrath upon their return. Their backsides would be sore for days after he'd taken the switch to them and both were given a stern lecture on the proper behavior of princes of the realm though he may as well have been talking to the palace walls. Neither of his sons wanted the responsibilities that came with being royalty and longed to escape it, never imagining that it would come from the bites of animals.

Albert had been bitten first by a wolf, one that had been unable to find food for days and when it set its eyes on the young man walking through the forest the only thought in its mind was that it would at last have a meal. It hadn't counted on another young man shooting an arrow into its throat before he could kill his prey. While Malcolm was taking his injured brother back home, he too was bitten, by a bat.

Any other person attacked by an animal back in that time period would have stood little chance of survival if the injuries were severe enough. Albert and Malcolm were not like most people for they carried within them a gene that mutated the virus transmitted through the bites of the animals into something else….something that changed them into creatures that exhibited both human and animal traits only Albert could not control his animal urges as strongly as his brother. He became the wolf….in a much larger and deadlier form known as a lycan, infecting others as he roamed the country.

Two people on horseback gazed out at a burning village, seething with anger at the destruction Albert and his whelps had caused while the first true vampire feared now there was nothing more he could do to protect his brother from his fledglings' wrath.

"We must move quickly before they turn," Cora said from atop her horse. "Light the torches!" she commanded two young men who stood behind her horse. They lit torches and began setting the bodies of the people slaughtered by the lycans ablaze for if they were not reduced to ash before the moon rose, they would join Albert's ranks.

"Where is he?" Maurice demanded angrily.

"I don't know," Malcolm lied. "He must not be harmed!"

"I gave you my word, didn't I?" Maurice asked coldly. "Search every inch of this village," he commanded his forces.

A small group of Death Dealers was seeing to the victims of a vicious attack in a barn when one of them snarled at them, its body changing from that of a human to an animal.

"They're turning!" one of the men shouted. Cora, hearing the cry, rode out to the barn. She jumped down from her horse and took aim with her crossbow at a lycan racing towards her. The animal fell dead at her feet. Several more emerged from behind the trees. She and her soldiers cut them down with their crossbows and swords; still there was no sign of their alpha. Cora was persistent. If she wanted that dog found, it would be found.

Even after their transformations, the bond between the two Gervano boys was as strong as ever. He traced his brother to the edge of the woods. The lycan was standing in front of a tree, snarling. Malcolm approached his twin slowly. "Albert…"

An arrow, attached to a chain whizzed past him, striking Albert in the shoulder and slammed him back against the trunk of the tree. The beast growled with rage and attempted to pull it out when a second one buried itself in his thigh.

"No! Leave him be!" Malcolm cried.

Another was fired, attaching itself to his upper thigh. The Death Dealers detached the chains from their crossbows and used them to bind the lycan to the tree.

"Stop!" Malcolm commanded.

"This had to be done," Cora said firmly. "More chains…now!"

"Please…"

"No!"

"Enough of this!" Maurice declared.

"He was not to be harmed and you agreed he would be placed in my charge. Honor our agreement or there will be a price!" Malcolm threatened.

"Your brother has just demonstrated that he cannot be controlled, especially in your care. No…this will be done my way."

"You know what will happen if you kill me…or him," Malcolm reminded his fledgling with a sneer.

"In time we will find a way to rectify that," Maurice vowed. "Until then, he will be imprisoned…far from you and you will learn your place."

"How dare you speak to me like this? I created you…and I can destroy you!" Malcolm threatened.

Several crossbows were pointed at the Elder, one of them held by Cora. "He must go into hibernation," she said to Maurice.

"I agree. Do it."

Cora fired one of her arrows into Malcolm's stomach, pinning him to another tree. She withdrew a dagger from her belt and made a long slice across the side of her blood father's throat, letting the blood flow into the snow at his feet. They let him bleed for half an hour before she sealed the wound and the Death Dealers released the unconscious vampire, dropping him into a crate. As long as he did not have a fresh supply of blood, he would remain in hibernation and it was exactly how Cora and Maurice wanted it….for now.

The next morning, Maurice approached the head of the Swan family, humans in service to the vampires thanks to the father's gift of invention. "I have a commission for you. The lycan Albert has been captured and we will need a prison constructed for him that he cannot escape."

"I can have it done for you as soon as possible, my lord."

Storybrooke, Maine

Centuries later

The man watched from behind a laptop screen as a chopper flew above the small American town known as Storybrooke. The door opened, and a length of rope was tossed out, the other end tied to a pole inside the chopper. A young woman wearing a red leather body suit climbed out of the chopper and started sliding down the rope. Once her feet hit the ground, she drew her double-barreled gun from its holster, one magazine loaded with silver nitrate rounds, the second with ultraviolet ammunition. She threw back her head and howled and a group of men and women began exiting the chopper, sliding down the rope one at a time.

"Damn town looks deserted," one of the men said to her.

"Spread out. Search every building. Any survivors are to be taken alive," the woman in red commanded.

"Lay the charges once ye've finished yer sweep and take shelter for the night. The jet will be arriving in the morning," they heard another voice command through their earpieces.

The voice belonged to their leader. He had many names through the centuries, often posing as his own descendant but no matter how many names he called himself, one thing stayed the same, he was the first lycan-vampire hybrid and had spent centuries cleaning up the messes left by the children his brothers created before the humans discovered them and wiped them all out. It wasn't how he'd planned to spend his immortal life, but they'd left him no other choice.

Though the town looked deserted there was plenty of evidence left behind that it had been occupied by vampires and lycans. There were so many corpses in every building the team searched that they wondered if anyone survived this latest conflict. The woman began placing charges in various points around the site while the man behind the laptop said a prayer for the departed and gave his team ample time to evacuate before he pressed the detonation button. Their work finished, they took shelter in a cave in the woods. After everyone else was asleep the woman took out her phone and dialed a number. She waited several minutes before the image of a handsome ginger in his early fifties appeared on the screen attaching an IV bag filled with blood to the vein on his arm. She caressed the screen lovingly. Archibald was their leader but only she had the honor of being his lover and mate, their union made centuries before the great uprising, as it was referred to in lycan history. To the vampires, it was a dirty secret to be erased from all records. She'd been born a lycan, he a human made vampire by his brother Malcolm's bite but it was her bite that made him a hybrid.

"Ruby lass," he murmured. "Dinna wait too long to feed. Ye're already starting to look a wee bit pale and we cannae hae ye going feral."

"I hunted before we left," she said and took a syringe filled with more blood out of the backpack she carried, injecting herself.

"The bed's bloody cold without ye," he complained.

"My body's cold without you," she whispered. "But I've discovered something you need to be aware of. Two of the elders are dead. One is missing."

Archie sighed. "Which are dead, lass?"

"Cora and Maurice."

"Aye, so someone hae unleashed Malcolm and he's coming to free Albert."

"Archie, Malcolm's now a hybrid. His coffin was covered in lycan blood."

"We need tae find the survivors if there were any and I'll be having a chat with August."

Ruby scowled. "You also might want to ask him why he was arming the lycans with UV rounds. Our UV rounds. And the vampires were using silver nitrate. You and I know Marco is the only one who knew we developed them years ago."

"They dinna know about the other rounds nor will they. Albert and Malcolm will be coming for me soon enough."

"And we'll be ready," she vowed.

"Where are Cora and Maurice's bodies, lass?"

"We've set up a lab in one of the abandoned buildings before we blow it."

"Ye know what ye're searching for?"

"You described it well enough, but he could've removed it."

"Not wi'out a good deal of scarring and pain. No, Maurice wanted that key out of my brother's hands but I cannae figure out how he managed to get it in there."

"I don't want to know."

"Call me when ye've found it."

"I'd rather call you for another reason."

He grinned. "Later, lass. Dinna want the others tae be hearin that conversation. Tis not fit for their ears."

"You should hear their jokes!"

"I have!"

She reached out and caressed the screen lovingly. "I love you Archie. I'm counting the minutes until I come home."

"I'm counting wi' ye, love."

She kissed the screen before she disconnected the call and rejoined her task force in the lab. The corpse of the vampire leader lay on a slab. A few minutes later a man entered pushing a tray of surgical instruments while Ruby removed the dead man's shirt.

"What do you think, Victor?"

Victor frowned. A surgeon in his human form, he'd been sent to the American vampire clan as Archie's years ago to introduce the synthetic blood technology to the coven to reduce the number of human attacks.

"There's a faint scar here so he's had some prior surgery. Doubt it was done while he was mortal. Better get started." He picked up a scalpel and made an incision. "Well, looks like Archie was right. There is something here and it's metal." He reached inside the dead man's chest and pulled out a metallic disc. "Is this what I think it is?"

"The other half of the key to Albert's cell," Ruby confirmed, cleaning off the disc and putting it in the backpack she carried only she was unaware that it was only a duplicate and a poorly made one that would not fit the lock for Rumple had already removed the original. "Let's get back to the chopper. Archie's gonna blow this place up once I give him the signal."

They ran back to the helicopter.

"We've only got ten minutes til Archie blows the place so haul ass!" Ruby shouted to the pilot. Exactly ten minutes later the building the team had been using as a lab exploded.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Archie turned off the laptop and disconnected the empty IV bag. The synthetic blood only staved off the blood cravings for a day or two, but they could not satisfy his desire for his mate. It would be another day or two before she returned, and they would have little time to themselves before they would have to prepare for the arrival of their guests.

He heard three short knocks on the door before one of his men poked his head in.

"Sir?"

"Aye?"

"August is in the drawing room."

"Oh, is he now? Ye'll be taking a team and going tae his shop while I keep him busy."

"Yes, sir. What are your instructions?"

"Confiscate everything except his books."

"He's not gonna like it."

"I dinna care whether he likes it or not."

Waiting in the drawing room was a tall, dark haired vampire only a few centuries younger than Archie. His name was August and he'd once been the historian for the vampire clan until he was exiled.

"You asked to see me Archie?"

"Aye." Archie tossed a gun into the young vampire's lap. "Ye've had a little side business going with the lycan clans havena ye?"

"Archie, please….I…I can explain."

"Explain what? I've spent the last I dinna ken how many centuries trying to keep our clans a secret from the humans and there ye are selling them weapons loaded with MY UV rounds that let them continue their bloody war, ye arse and ye expect me no' tae be cross about it? Now yer da's makin' silver nitrate guns for the vampires! If ye werna like a grandson tae me I'd be putting ye out in the sunlight to burn tae dust but instead I'll be puttin ye outta business!"

August lowered his head shamefully.

"Well? What hae ye got tae say fer yerself?"

"I…I'm sorry Archie."

"Ye better be and yer gonna be helping me fix this bloody mess by sendin' those new hybrids from America tae me when they come tae visit ye."

"What new hybrids?"

"Belle, Rumplestiltskin, Emma and Baelfire."

August's eyes narrowed to slits. "That bitch Belle is the one who exiled me! I'd rather put a UV round in her than help her but since she's a hybrid now it won't work on her!"

"Aye it won't and ye will send her my way, ye ken?"

"What's going on?"

"Malcolm's been woken early and now he's a hybrid. Ye ken what he's gonna do next."

August gulped. "Release Albert. But he can't without the key. Tell me you have it!"

"I've got half of it coming and ye better damn well do yer best to send Belle here with the other half! Now git!"

Two of Archie's hybrid bodyguards escorted August back to his rental car. Once he was inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been lucky to escape his godfather's wrath that time. Archie had been a mild-mannered mortal physician when he and his father Marco met him centuries earlier, both victims of Malcolm's late-night feeding frenzies. They were almost healed when Malcolm attacked again, only this time he'd gone after Archie as well. Now cursed to be creatures of the night they'd learned how to survive on their own until Maurice brought them all into his clan.

"Leroy, the other team's gonna be comin' back wi' August's arsenal. I want that lot destroyed, ye ken?" Archie instructed.

"Yes sir."

"And I'll be retirin' for t' evening," he mumbled.

"Sir, have you fed today?" Leroy asked as he followed him upstairs.

"Aye, just have a wee bit o' melancholy. I'll be in better spirits once we get these messes cleaned up."

"You shouldn't be the one cleaning them up."

"Aye but I've been my brothers' keeper for as long as I can remember. Good night, lad," Archie said and closed his bedroom door behind him.

Two days later a helicopter landed on the grounds of the abandoned castle Archie made his home centuries earlier. Ruby jumped out followed by members of her team, shouting out instructions to everyone while she walked into castle.

"Where is he?" she demanded of Margaret, their oldest blood child. She smiled.

"In his office."

"We are not to be disturbed unless it is urgent."

"Yes, Mama."

Ruby raced down the hall and gently rapped on the closed double doors.

"Come in," she heard her mate call out.

She opened the doors to find him sitting on the sofa sipping a cup of tea while he was reading a book. He sniffed the air, marked his place and set the book aside.

"Ruby lass," he murmured as he came toward her, desire burning in his blue eyes. He swung her up in his arms and carried her over to the sofa, undressing each other slowly until at last they were naked in each other's arms.

"Archie," she moaned as he entered her and sank his fangs into her neck. She drew him closer and bit into his shoulder, their hunger for each other's bodies as fervent as their hunger for blood.

The skies of England

Now the time had come for Malcolm to take his rightful place as leader of the vampires now that Cora and Maurice were no longer there to oppose him. He was much stronger this time from the lycan blood he'd ingested inside his sarcophagus. But he was not the only one. In the strange looking metal contraption he caught the scent of two more…male and female…and they had in their possession the key that would grant Albert his freedom. Now all he needed was the location of the cell. He suspected the man and woman had the answer and he would get it from their blood before he tore them to pieces.


End file.
